uDevGames 2011

(Jun 5, 2011 06:39 PM)ugriffin Wrote: we can easily create something beautiful within the confines of 2 months, leaving the other two months void of activity (except for feedback and polishing I guess).

I found past uDevGames to be a great outlet for testing out new ideas. You could view uDG as an opportunity to do something completely different. Perhaps a completely different genre of game? Perhaps pushing your dev platform in ways yet unexplored?

(Jun 5, 2011 10:41 AM)DoG Wrote: As for hosting, setting a size limit for binaries hosted on the uDG site seems reasonable enough, so make people who want bigger binaries host themselves.

I still think a max size should be enforced, whether or not bandwidth is available as a large download is a pain for players and working to a limit is good practice for devs (if 50mb is good enough for an XBLA game with HD content, it's plenty for a Mac game). It also stops it being a situation where wealthier devs who can afford the bandwidth can make huge sloppily coded binaries and everyone else is limited on the 'free' bandwidth option.

Would I be allowed to play around with some ideas before July 1st or do I have to wait till then?
The rules don't seem to mention this, except maybe #4

Rules of Eligibility Wrote:Entries with screenshots, movies, or any playable form (i.e. beta, demo, release, etc), released to the public or outside testers before July 1, 2011 at 12:01 AM GMT are ineligible.

(Jun 8, 2011 11:35 AM)McSpider Wrote: Would I be allowed to play around with some ideas before July 1st or do I have to wait till then?

In past years, the consensus was that working privately on your game prior to the contest is OK. It would be impossible to enforce a rule that no work of any kind could happen before the start date; you just need to not publicly post screenshots, movies, or playables before then. One could say it's more in the spirit of the contest to wait. Personally, I'll usually do a little bit of design work and maybe try to solve some specific technical challenges I know I have ahead of me, but I won't write any game-specific code until the contest starts.

(Jun 8, 2011 12:32 PM)ThemsAllTook Wrote: In past years, the consensus was that working privately on your game prior to the contest is OK. It would be impossible to enforce a rule that no work of any kind could happen before the start date; you just need to not publicly post screenshots, movies, or playables before then. One could say it's more in the spirit of the contest to wait. Personally, I'll usually do a little bit of design work and maybe try to solve some specific technical challenges I know I have ahead of me, but I won't write any game-specific code until the contest starts.

(Jun 15, 2011 09:51 AM)EvolPenguin Wrote: The best thing about uDevGames is all the people who come out of the woodwork!
Alex

Helloooooooooo

Damn, should I even enter? . You should mention it in your podcast!
Alex

Hahaha well I may only be able to enter this year as like an exhibition or something. I have a non-compete clause nowadays that prevents me from releasing code for quite some time I still want to make something, but I may have to just let myself be disqualified in the end. Hell, may use that to try a something a little more off the wall this year

And of course it's gonna get some love on the podcast! Out of the dozen or so games I've had a hand in now, the ones I made for uDevGames and 21 Days Later are the games I've been most proud of.